


Fading

by Eratoschild



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 14:52:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17869331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eratoschild/pseuds/Eratoschild
Summary: “This ghost, too, would fade soon.”





	Fading

**Author's Note:**

> My first Trek fic. Ever. Not beta’d. I beg you, be merciful!
> 
> I watched Vaulting Ambition last night, and I just couldn’t get this idea of Paul lost without Hugh out of my head.

Paul Stamets was more than aware of the effect he had on people. He just didn’t care, thank you. Why should it be his problem if people don’t like his personality? Cadet Tilley was… an anomaly, though it was refreshing to see the way it didn’t bother her, or maybe she didn’t even notice.

But there was Hugh, the only one he cared about. He didn’t see past or ignore Paul’s abrasive tendencies. He wasn’t oblivious to them, he didn’t love him in spite of them.

No. Hugh had looked him in the eye, smiled indulgently as if to say “Yes, Dear...” and embraced his prickly personality. Found it endearing, loved him for it. 

In Hugh, Paul had found something pure, holistic, and, if he held any belief in the concept, he would dare say he’d found something holy. As a rule, Paul didn’t reach out in search of others for contact, for closeness. Indeed, their relationship would never have been at all if not for Hugh’s doing. It was he who had reached out to Paul, pulled him in and won him over

And now, what was Hugh but a thought, a picture growing more distant by the moment? Bound to live forever as a retreating memory, Paul could only cling intangibly to that indulgent smile, to the warmth in his voice.

He was lost, floundering. When he closed his eyes, all he saw was the soft glow of Hugh’s fading form. He kept them closed. When he opened them, all he would see was the empty room, a mirror for two, two toothbrushes, but only one would be used now. One empty bed, two pillows, one still smelling like Hugh. This ghost, too, would fade soon.


End file.
